Re: [tied] PIE Stop System

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Glen Gordon" <glengordon01@...>
wrote:

> I've always been curious about those etyma. They are clearly unusual
> since they contain an otherwise "reduced" vowel in an accented
> syllable. I've considered the possibility that in some instances an
> early Late IE *Vi/Vu may have become PIE *i/*u when it otherwise
> shouldn't have.

Perhaps the zero grade was original. All, or at least most, diphthong
roots would then be incremented forms. The strong cases would be
formed with an -a- infix (which typically gets raised to e or o under
vaguely defined conditions) in addition to the standard case suffixes
(-s, -m, etc.). Thus the primary difference between the genetive and
nominative cases are the presence of the -a- infix. The o grade would
develop along similar lines.

> In pronouns like *tu:, I'm sure that the vowel has been simply
> reduced from earlier *teu. The reduction here can be explained as a
> special development of pronouns and demonstratives (such as *i- <
> *ei, *kWi- < *kWei, etc). However, *mu:(h)s "mouse" is strange.

In the system I'm considering the pronouns, demonstratives, and
other "strange" roots would be relic areas.

> I suspect that this same syllable restructuring might be to blame
> for other otherwise unsolvable oddities in IE morphology.
>
> Thoughts?

I guess it's a question of evidence. Do you have any examples that
retain the old forms as relic areas?